The New Jersey Devils and Tom Fitzgerald parted ways on Monday evening. Managing partner David Blitzer and Fitzgerald both expressed that it would be good for the team to develop a new vision and approach. Or as they say in sports entertainment, this move was best for business.
As reported on DevilsNation.com, the New Jersey Devils have been scouting all over their hockey operations department. So this move was helpful. Again, the ineffectiveness of finding a certain player, Quinn Hughes, now playing for the Minnesota Wild, with multiple no-trade or no-movement clauses, no action of any kind, something he had to give.
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With Tom Fitzgerald out of the mix in New Jersey, the Devils will join the Nashville Predators and Toronto Maple Leafs in their search for a new general manager. As reported by NHLRumors.com and DevilsNation.com, the Devils are looking to hire a President of Hockey Operations and General Manager.
It is better that the person no longer holds a position within the organization. It was different when Lou Lamoriello was running things; he was an organization. But now, with all the various management partners and people to answer to, one person needs to be brought in to manage hockey operations, and another will be hired to manage the team.
As Frank Seravalli of the Daily Faceoff said on Frankly Speaking on Victory+, the position of New Jersey Devils General Manager is an attractive job. There is a good foundation with Nico Hischier, Jesper Bratt, Jack Hughes, Luke Hughes, Simon Nemec, Brett Pesce, Connor Brown, and Timo Meier. But there is work to be done for this team to be a real contender.
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The big name to watch, as reported, is Brendan Shanahan stepping in as President of Hockey Operations, as John Buccigross and Seravalli discussed today.
Writing for NHLRumors.com
John Buccigross: “What about New Jersey? Now they have a new approach. What’s next for them? What do you think as you see what they have and how they’re going to try to straighten things out, to try to get better, because you can’t just go back next year. What makes sense?
Frank Seravalli: “I think you need to chart a new course. And I think the big name that stands out, for a lot of different reasons, is Brendan Shanahan. Hire Brendan Shanahan to be your next President of Hockey Operations.”
He’s a guy who gets to the top of the list, he started his career, he played at the end of his career with the New Jersey Devils, he found an organization, he found a market place. I believe, he made his principal or principal residence in Manhattan, not far away.
And he’s someone who’s really hungry to get back inside and understand what makes the Devils tick. So my opinion or Inkling would be that Brendan Shanahan steps in as President of Hockey Ops.
So who does he come up with as the next general manager of this team? What about someone like Jamie Langenbrunner, who also has those connections to the Devils organization, a fan favorite, a big part of that trophy team. He has been cutting his teeth as an assistant GM in Boston. Another assistant GM in Boston who has made a lot of lists lately is Evan Gold.
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We touched on Sunny Mehta and his path to winning Stanley Cups with the Florida Panthers, working as one of the top data designers there and as an assistant GM to Bill Zito. Tyler Dellow previously held a senior role in the New Jersey Devils organization as their VP of Analytics. He is now in Carolina as an assistant GM.
Ryan Martin, just across the river, has held nearly every job in an NHL front office over the past 30 years except as an NHL General Manager. He has nearly two decades of assistant GMing experience between Detroit and the New York Rangers, and would be a truly worthy candidate.
And then, of course, there’s a guy who I think is kind of a tricky candidate here, based on all the different opportunities he’s gotten over the last few years to interview, which would be Peter Chiarelli. Are you a guy who can go in, you know, a guy who does a daily job with someone like Brendan Shanahan?
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Will they work well together? I don’t know the answer to that question, or the relationship, but the bottom line is, if it’s Brendan Shanahan, he’s going to have no shortage of interesting people to choose from to run the team day in and day out, and it sounds like he’s the clear, far and away favorite to be the guy who comes in to lead this organization.”
So the New Jersey Devils should choose a direction where they believe the best people will emerge. Again, this person will be outside the organization. It’s a combination of old school eye exams and new school math. However, the organization will change, perhaps not only on the ice, but also on the ice.
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